Chapter 8 — Mermaid Rising Waves

I muttered this name in my head, remembering it carefully. The interview took place in a conference room. There were three interviewers, two women and one man, all wearing dark blue uniforms.

"Please sit down, Ms. Khuong Tieu Ngu."

The female judge sitting in the middle gestured, "I am Vuong Le, Human Resources Director. These two are respectively Director Ly of the Environmental Compliance Department and Dr. Trieu of the Technology Research Department." I sat down, my hands on my knees, trying to look like a normal and slightly nervous new graduate.

“Your CV is quite impressive.”

Vuong Le flipped through the folder, "Major in Marine Environmental Science at Tan Hai University, GPA 3.8, two internships, and also a letter of recommendation from Professor Trieu Minh Vien. Professor Trieu is very famous in the field of marine ecology, how do you know him?"

“In my third year, I took his elective 'Ocean Pollution and Control', got the highest score in the final essay, and then worked for a time as a research assistant in his laboratory."

I smoothly recited the script my mother had prepared.

“Oh?

What is the topic of your essay? Dr. Trieu——a tall, thin man wearing glasses, suddenly showed interest.

“Research on the effects of nearshore industrial pollution on benthic community structure.”

I answered without hesitation. This essay is real, but it was not written by me, but my mother asked a real graduate student to write it for her, and then put my name on it. Having money is really nice. Dr. Trieu nodded, looking quite satisfied. Director Ly flipped through my CV, then suddenly asked a question that made my heart pound: "What do you think about deep sea burial technology?" My smile almost froze. Deep sea landfill is the fancy term that the Tham Lam Group uses to cover up its indiscriminate waste disposal——”Harmless deep sea landfill”. I took a deep breath, remembering what my mother told me: "During the interview, never pretend to be an environmental activist. You must appear like a normal graduate student, a bit vague about the future, not interested in politics. Don't be too smart, don't be too stupid. Neutral is best."

“I feel…”

I deliberately pretended to think thoughtfully, "There's still a lot of controversy about deep-sea landfill technology in the world today, right? It seems that some environmental organizations also oppose it. However, I don't understand this field very deeply, my main research direction is shallow marine ecosystems." A perfect answer! Don't take sides, don't reveal your stance, and at the same time imply that you don't understand deeply, so if you say something you shouldn't say later, you can blame it on "ignorance". Director Ly nodded and did not ask further questions. The next interview follows the usual process: self-introduction, strengths and weaknesses, reasons for choosing Tham Lam Group, future career orientation, etc. I answered each question according to the prepared script, neither too enthusiastic nor indifferent. At the end of the interview, Vuong Le stood up and shook my hand.

“Miss Khuong Tieu Ngu, you performed very well, we will announce the results within three days.”

“Thank you.”

I smiled and shook her hand. When I got home, Lam Triet was sitting on the sofa waiting for me. His tail has completely recovered, the scales radiate a brilliant silver-blue light, stunningly beautiful in the sunlight. Lately he's been practicing turning his tail into legs—this is a required skill if a pure-blooded mermaid wants to go ashore, requiring a lot of stamina and control. Currently he can maintain the shape of his legs for about two hours, any longer and he will be uncontrollable and turn back into a tail.

“How's it going?”

He asked impatiently.

“I passed the interview.”

I lied down on the sofa, kicked off my high heels, "I will report the results within three days."

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Don't know.”

I closed my eyes, "But I feel like they don't suspect anything. I act normal enough."

“Mediocrity is a good thing.”

Grandma poked her head out, "The ultimate taboo for insiders is being too outstanding. If you are too outstanding, you will be noticed, if you get noticed, it will be exposed anyway."

“How come you know everything?”

“You've watched more than seven thousand episodes of espionage war.”

“……

That doesn't count.”

“Why doesn't it count?

Art originates from life.” Three days later, the admission notice arrived on time.

“Miss Khuong Tieu Ngu, congratulations on your admission to Tham Lam Group, please come to accept the job next Monday.

Position: Environmental Compliance Department Intern.” On the first day of my job, I was given a seat next to the window. In the distance outside the glass window is the ocean. From this angle, the sea surface is as calm as a strip of blue silk, the sunlight scatters a layer of sparkling golden dust on it. If I didn't know what was happening at the bottom of this sea, this would probably be the most beautiful office scene I've ever seen.

“Khuong Tieu Ngu?”

A voice rang out above his head. I looked up and saw a young man standing in front of me. He was about twenty-five or six years old, of medium build, wearing metal-rimmed glasses, wearing the company's dark blue uniform, and wearing an intern ID card on his chest like me.

“My name is Tong Vien Hang, also an intern in the Environmental Compliance department.”

He held out his hand, his smile as bright as the sun, "Director Vuong told me to take you to get acquainted with the working environment."

“Hello.”

I shook his hand, "Just call me Tieu Ngu."

“Tieu Ngu, that's a good name.”

Tong Vien Hang smiled and replied, "What school did you graduate from?"

“Tan Hai University.

What about you?

“Jinghua University.”

Jinghua University, the top university in the country, a Jinghua graduate actually works as an intern at Tham Lam Group? This doesn't seem very normal. Tong Vien Hang seemed to read my question and laughed to himself: "It's very difficult to find a job in the Environmental Engineering major. Tham Lam Group is considered the largest company in the industry, you're very lucky to be here."

“Ah…”

Tong Vien Hang took me around the entire working area of the Environmental Compliance department on the 21st floor. Along the way, he enthusiastically introduced the functions of each department, the names of his colleagues, the location of the break room, how to use the printer, etc. He spoke very quickly, with a cheerful look typical of people in the capital, making people feel very close.

"This side is Director Ly's office."

He lowered his voice, "Director Ly is not a bad person, but a bit grumpy. During meetings, he can talk for two hours straight without repeating the same sentence." any."

“What about Dr. Trieu?”

“Dr. Trieu belongs to the Technology Research Department, but cooperates a lot with our department, he is one of the core experts developing deep-sea landfill technology, a multi-millionaire in the industry.”